


Band Days

by 46hasu



Series: LU College DND AU [8]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: AU of an AU, Gen, LU AU, LU College DND AU, Original Characters - Freeform, Somewhat, no beta we die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24972427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/46hasu/pseuds/46hasu
Summary: As the foster brothers snoop through the attic, they find out something new about their auncle
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Time & Lullaby (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild & Legend (Linked Universe)
Series: LU College DND AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696231
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Band Days

**Author's Note:**

> Characters:  
> Colby - Twilight  
> Will - Wild  
> Kasey - Kit (Young Legend)  
> Lorelei/Shiran - Lullaby/Sheik  
> Tom - Time

“I wonder what this wig was meant for,” Will poked the bundle of tangled hair. “Why would mom and dad need this?”

“Probably for disco parties,” Colby said with little interest. “Are you going to help me move the boxes or stand there gaping at everything?” 

Will tore his eyes away from the bizarre wig and leaned down to the nearest box. His nose instinctively wrinkled at the layers of dust on the box. “When was the last time anyone cleaned this attic?”

“Who knows. But we might find something cool if we keep looking.”

“Aha!” a scream sounded through the attic, making Will drop the box in panic. “I knew you two were snooping!” 

He turned back to find his youngest foster brother peaking through the attic door with a victorious smile on his face. “I won’t tell if you let me look as well,” Kasey said. 

There was an exasperated sigh from Colby. “Fine. Let me help you up first.” 

Will looked down at the box he dropped as Colby helped Kasey up to the attic. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken. He sat on the dirty floor and picked up the worn-out album. He bit back a cough from the dust as he opened it to browse the pictures. 

“Are you okay?” a hand touched his shoulders. Will turned to see his brothers with a concerned frown on their faces. “Did you drop it on your foot?”

“Oh, no,” Will waved their concern off. “I’m fine and nothing seems to be broken.” 

“Oh good,” Colby moved to sit beside Will with Kasey on his lap. “What’s that?”

“A photo album, I think,” Will squinted at the photos. “I don’t recognize the people though.” 

“Let me see,” Colby gently took the album from Will and angled it to the light from the windows. “I think this is Tom’s high school album.” 

“Dad’s?” Kasey looked closer to the book in excitement. “Where is he?” 

“I think,” Colby pointed to a picture with two people standing in front of a poster with a grin, “this one right here.” 

Will studied the photo, tilting his head a little. Young Tom had longer hair compared to the one he had now with a loose t-shirt and jeans. “Who’s the one standing next to him? It doesn’t look like Milly.” 

Next to Tom was a teenage girl with neon green hair and a black studded choker. She wore a bright red crop top and skirt with a complicated tangle of leather belts keeping it in place. Will couldn’t help but be envious of her winged eyeliner and bright eyeshadow that complemented her punk look. He wondered if she would be willing to give him some makeup tips. 

Colby slipped the photo out from the album and flipped it over. “Tom and Lorelei, Spring School Talent Show,” he read out loud. 

“Auncle Lorelie?!” Kasey and Will shouted in disbelief. “That can’t be it,” Will said, snatching the photo from Colby. 

Colby held up his hands in surrender. “That’s what it says.” 

Will studied the girl next to Tom, trying to compare her to their auncle. Their Auncle Lorelie, as far as Will knew, had an old fashioned taste like their father. She couldn’t stand loud noises and had an overall mild-mannered personality, this girl however seemed to have a loud and rough personality.

“Colby,” Kasey’s voice interrupted Will’s thought, “what is this?” 

Will looked up to find Kasey holding up a cassette tape to Colby. “That must have fallen out of the box when I dropped it.” 

“There’s nothing written on it,” Colby studied the tape with furrowed eyebrows. “I saw a cassette player somewhere recently. Wait here.” 

Will and Kasey watched Colby shuffle through the junk before quickly growing bored and looking down at the photo again. 

“I don’t think that’s Auncle Lorelei,” Kasey muttered. “Auncle doesn’t look like that.”

“She could have dyed her hair back then,” Will offered, as he studied the photo. “And they have the same nose shape and eye color.” 

Kasey looked away from the photo and opened the album book again. Will joined him to the floor, the photo still in his hand. They flipped through the photo album listlessly until another photo caught their eyes. 

It was the photo of the girl again. But this time there was a sleek white electric guitar on her lap as she smirked down to the camera. 

“Can Auncle Lorelei play the guitar?” Will asked. Kasey shrugged and removed the photo from the album the same way Colby did. He held up the photo to Will, silently asking him to read the back of the photo. 

Will hesitated and looked over to Colby who was still busy looking for the player. Determining that Colby was too busy to read out loud, Will accepted the photo from Kasey and struggled to read the black squiggles. 

“Lead guilt,” Will tried to read. “Oh, wait.” He squinted down at the words again, quietly articulating the words to himself. “Lead guitarist, Lorelei,” he finally read to the patient Kasey. 

His younger brother frowned at Will’s words. “Could it be Auncle Lorelei?”

“That’s what the picture says.” 

“Found it,” Colby cheered at the other end of the attic, holding up a portable cassette and CD player. “Let’s see what’s on the cassette then.” 

Colby quickly plugged the player to the nearest electric socket and slipped the cassette player in. “Let’s see what secrets are hidden in this,” Colby pressed the play button. 

Nothing could have prepared Will for what was coming. There was a loud riff of a guitar followed by heavy drumming that made both Will and Kasey jump. 

“Turn it down,” Will hissed to Colby who was scrambling to twist one of the knobs on the player. 

“It’s on the lowest setting,” Colby shouted over the music. “Let me try this-” 

A blood-curling scream sounded from the player making the three brothers jump again. The loud instruments continued to play as the singer screamed even more. Will raised his hands to cover his ears only to swiftly cover Kasey’s instead as the singer started to shout profanities. He felt his face turn red from embarrassment as the singer continued to scream and cuss teachers, the school, the cops, and the government. He had never heard such a colorful set of words before. 

Colby finally succeeded to turn the player off by plugging it out of the electric socket. The music died down immediately and the three brothers stood in bafflement. 

“Well,” Colby coughed into his sleeve, his eyes darting towards Kasey. “I wasn’t expecting that.” 

Will removed his hands from Kasey’s ears as he sighed in exhaustion. “What was that?

Colby shrugged as Kasey turned to Will with a frown. “I couldn’t hear much because you were covering my ears.” 

“Sorry,” Will lied. 

“The singer certainly sounded familiar,” Colby scratched his head, contemplating. “I wonder if it’s the girl from the photo.” 

“We did find another photo that said she was a lead guitarist of a band.” 

“Was,” Colby’s eyes grew wide. “Was Auncle Lorelei the lead guitarist in a heavy metal band?”

Will thought of their mild-mannered and gentle auncle that took them to ice cream and movies. “Could be,” he shrugged. 

* * *

“I wasn’t expecting a visit from you boys,” their auncle opened their apartment door wider. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“I’m fine with a glass of water,” Will said as he took his usual seat on her sofa. 

“Same here,” Colby sat down next to Will. “And apple juice for Kasey.”

“But I want a soda,” Kasey complained. 

“No sugar for you this late.” 

Kasey pouted as he threw himself back on the sofa. 

“Got it,” their auncle laughed. “And it’s Shiran today.”

“Thanks, Auncle Shiran,” they all said in unison as Shiran left to the kitchen. 

“So do we just ask right away?” Will asked. “Or is this a sensitive matter?”

“I don’t think it could be that much of a sensitive matter,” Colby shrugged. “But let’s not ask Shiran straight away.” 

“Ask me what?” their uncle walked into the room with drinks. 

“Ask you,” Colby said slowly, his eyes shifting uneasily, “where your girlfriend is.”

“Piper?” Shiran placed their drinks in front of them. “She’s still at work but I’ll let her know you visited.” 

“Oh,” Colby said, taking a sip of his drink. Kasey jumped up from the sofa to his apple juice and started to drink happily despite his earlier complaints. 

“What did you really want to ask me?” Shiran looked over them. 

Will shifted in his seat uncomfortably as Colby cleared his throat. 

“To ask if this is you,” Kasey asked bluntly, holding up the picture with the guitar. “We think that it can’t be you but your name is on the back of the photo.” 

Shiran accepted the photo from Kasey and studied it. “Where did you find this?”

Dread hit Will like a brick at their uncle’s stiff smile. “In the attic,” he stuttered out. “I’m sorry for snooping around in there. Please don’t be mad.” 

Shiran seemed to loosen a little at Will’s words. “I am not mad at you. But did your father show you this?”

“No, sir,” Colby said. “We found it ourselves. So is it you?” 

Shirn rolled his eyes and tore the photo up. 

A gasp escaped Will as Shiran threw the pieces in the trash. 

“We don’t talk about that,” Shiran said with a smile. “Those were the old days and I have changed now.” 

“So it was you?” Will asked. 

Their uncle only took a sip of their drink, ignoring Will’s question. 

“Why don’t you talk about it?” Kasey asked. “Did something bad happen?”

Their uncle looked down at them carefully. “No.”

“Did you just grow tired of it then?”

Shiran stayed silent. 

“Could you be,” Will asked as the idea came to him, “embarrassed about your edgy band years?”

Shiran choked on his drink. 

“Oh, that’s why,” Colby nodded a small smile coming to his lips. “I get it.” 

A small wheeze came from their uncle as he hunched over. 

“I don’t think it’s anything to be embarrassed about,” Will tried, “Sure you had an eccentric sense of style with the chokers and the crop tops --”

“Stop,” their uncle held up a hand. “I’m cringing from just thinking about it.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Since you were a lead guitarist,” Colby said, “do you think you can give me pointers?”

Shiran sighed. “You are a talented kid and all, but I left the musician’s life behind me so I could be a little rusty..” 

Colby huffed. “I’m not asking you to do much. Just some advice would be fine since you must be very talented.” 

“Well…”

“Besides who cares about your eccentric fashion tastes?” Colby smiled at their uncle. “We all had something to cringe about but we shouldn’t let that stop us from enjoying our hobbies.” 

Will looked at Colby, impressed with his words and maturity. 

“And if you don’t want to give me pointers, that’s fine,” his brother’s smile grew tilted. “There are other pictures of you in the attic and I have saved them all in my Cloud Drive. It would be a shame though if those pictures were shown to everyone.” 

Kasey coughed in surprise at Colby’s words and Will felt the familiar exasperation come over him. He should have seen this coming. 

* * *

“I can’t believe you didn’t get rid of those photos,” Shiran scolded Tom over the phone. “And after you kept insisting you did.”

“In my defense,” Tom said, “I didn’t think those kids would find your old photos. The attic is loaded with nothing but junk.” 

Shiran bit back a sigh at Tom’s listless tone. “I was so embarrassed that those kids found out about me like that.”

“Sorry,” Tom said again. “But they didn’t bring up anything weird did they?”

Shiran thought about Colby’s words. “Nah. Colby just wanted someone to give him pointers.” 

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I was going to offer when the time came anyway so I don’t really care. Besides, it’s not like I am ashamed of those days. They helped me cope.” 

He heard an amused huff from Tom. “Good for you, Auncle Shiran.” 

Shiran felt a smile grow on their lips at his words. “By the way,” he asked, “those are the only record of my band days right?”

There was a hum from the other end of the receiver. “Probably?’

**SOME YEARS AGO**

Minne stacked the old boxes against the wall as she had been instructed to do. Her back was starting to grow sore but she paid no attention as she lifted another box. 

It was originally Adon who volunteered to clean out the old boxes in the music room. He had asked for her help and promptly ditched her to clean up by herself. All her calls and text messages went unanswered as usual. At this point, she wasn’t even offended anymore. 

She had been tempted to leave with only half of the boxes and old instruments cleared out, but she ended up taking pity on the old music teacher and her weak back. Now it was her back that was growing weak. 

A jolt of pain shot through her back again as she attempted to lift the box from the ground. She winced as it clattered and fell onto the wooden ground. 

Tears stung her eyes at the loud racket and the mess that fell out. If that stupid Adon were here, then she would already be heading home without a sore back. But getting mad would change nothing now. 

She wearily kneeled down to collect the scattered papers and old cassette tapes. 

“Oh, you’re still here?” a voice snapped her out of her trance. Minnie looked back to find the old music teacher looked at her with concern. “It’s fine if you can’t clear them all today. Go home and rest.” 

“I just have to move this box,” Minnie forced a smile. “Where should I put it?”

The teacher looked around the storage room. “Adon isn’t here?”

Minnie tried and failed to hold back a flinch. “He must be busy,” she said. 

The music teacher frowned at her before looking to the box. “You can keep that if it interests you. I was going to throw it away but it would be a shame.” 

Minnie looked down at the cassettes. It was obviously homemade, judging from the scratches and worn out tape. She wondered what was recorded on this. “Did a student give this to you?”

The teacher laughed. “I actually confiscated it. She was supposed to come back for it later but she never did. Quite odd considering that it was her band’s original songs.” 

Curiosity overwhelmed Minnie and she ended up taking the box with her to home in the end. There were five cassettes, some sheet music, and pictures of students that the teacher later told her was the band members. 

She looked at the lead guitarist and felt some hesitance. The band’s music was obviously going to be heavy metal songs with screaming. But she had a small cassette player she bought on a whim last week and wanted to play around with it. Besides, if she didn’t like it, she can always throw it away. 

The cassette player slipped into the player and she waited for the music to start. The loud instruments blared from the player and Minnie instinctively winced at the loud volume. It’s a good thing she was home alone. 

A scream sounded from the player and the lyrics started. She picked up one of the pictures discarded on the floor and studied the band members. They all wore heavy makeup and had brightly colored hair. She wondered which ones were wearing wigs and which ones actually bleached their hair. 

Her eyes wandered over to the member with the sleek white guitar. She flipped over the picture to read the name of the band members. 

“Lorelie, lead guitarist and vocals,” she read out loud. 

“Now our next song, written by our Lorelei,” a band member announced from the player. “Let’s see if you can handle this!” 

Loud music continued again as Minnie continued to study the pictures. The song fit right in with the band’s image. But there was something different about it as well. 

Maybe she was just projecting, but the lyrics were surprisingly relatable. 

“But it turns out,” Lorelei sang loudly, “I am not who I was told.” 

“Cause I am not a girl,” Minnie sang along, her words quieter compared to Lorelei. “I am something else.” 

She looked down at the photo again. But there was a new light to it now. 

She ran a finger over the picture and studied Lorelei. Was the vocalist like her?

Minnie looked up at the mirror. “Cause I am not a girl,” they repeated the lyrics. 

**Author's Note:**

> Minnie - Artemis (Hyrule Warriors Zelda)  
> Adon - Warriors 
> 
> Comments and feedback are appreciated!


End file.
